Need advice with new guitar

[Cajun]

Hello all, as my name suggests yes I am from south Louisiana. No I don't talk like farmer fran from the waterboy. Lol. Anyways I recently bought my first music man guitar. Purchased the sbmm AX4 from my local guitar center (New Orleans). Played and felt great. As of all my experiences with that store the set up wasnt bad but not horrible. Anyways this is my first rig with a licensed floyd. Seems to be a real pita. Intonation is close but my ocd is driving me nuts lol. Cant use the floyd everything goes out of whack and ends up raising in pitch after it suppose to set at zero. I thought the locking nut was suppose to help prevent this. Not sure if I should just change the strings out first and check everything after or maybe this trem is just going to be useless. Seems to stay in tune as long as the whammy is bot used. Only thing I can complain about as everything else is exceptional. Any pointers?

 

[agt]

Welcome and congrats on you new axe!

A properly adjusted and working Floyd will not have the problems you are describing. Without more information, it is difficult to diagnose over the internet. Do contact customer service and they should have you whammying without worries!

 

[steevo]

When tightening the locking nuts the strings will go slightly flat or sharp, thats what the fine tuners are for. Check everything is tight, from the bridge end (string clamps) to the nut and that the string clamps arent worn on the inner side, this will cause tuning problems. Id change your strings too, put a new set of m-steels on.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

 

[Tollywood]

Hello Cajun,

I would suggest stretching the strings before doing the final tuning. I usually grab each string, one at a time, and gently pull it away from the fret board a little bit to stretch it out. I do this in three locations per string: at around the 3rd fret, the 10th fret and around the 14th fret. Then, I retune and the Floyd should be fine after that.

Good luck!

 

[Razzle]

Hey Cajun! Geaux!!

The Sub's are really no different than any other floyd guitar. In that the design is very stable for string tension control. You have a locking nut at one end, no slip. At the other end is the bridge, which the only slip possible is ever so slightly as the string travels over the bridge, which this is extremely minor and very likely not related to any of those issues. With regards to the bridge, then it would only be the knife edge points as they go up and down against the posts (only a bad surface to surface issue would cause anything), or the springs which is not a problem area for floyds.

So make SURE the nut is clamped down on the strings (very common error), then inspect the posts and knife edges of the bridge. But the MOST likely issue is simply the strings. They will go out of tune a bit after putting them on but then they should be very stable in less than an hour of playing. In this case, it may be the string type. I only use EBMM strings and my floyds are all very stable.

Good luck and enjoy that guitar!!

 

[Cajun]

Thanks for the advice. Not sure what strings are on it. I would assume they are eb's since that what Sterlings website says all their guitars come with. I set the fine tuners about half way, then tuned the strings, tightened the lock nut, only noticed the strings go out of tune very slightly ( as Steevo said they went sharp or flat some didnt change at all). It feels like it is 9s on it at the moment. This was a demo guitar off the wall so bot sure how much play time it had seen before i brought it home. All in all I love this guitar. The cleans are amazing and the tone versaitility is on par if not better than my sss strat (except that i can rock out with hh ��. I dont have 9s on hand at this time so i may throw some super slink 10s on it to see what happens. Everything was checked for tightness from the nut down to the string lock screw things. Saddles are tight as well. Popped the back cover to see all three springs are firmly intact. Bridge is lying flat against the body so there should only be one direction of pull. After thinking about this I am wondering if the nut is the culprit. Maybe when the whammy is used the strings go floppy and the tuners maybe pull that extra little bit of tension because the string is slipping through the nut. Why else would the top E go to F#. Only thing I can come up with. If anything it should go down in tune if the string slips on the bridge and the nut is firmly grasping the string right? Maybe the 10's will give the nut more to bite down on. Anyways I will keep you all posted on this as I did contact customer support as well.

 

[Jeong]

Hello Cajun,

I would suggest stretching the strings before doing the final tuning. I usually grab each string, one at a time, and gently pull it away from the fret board a little bit to stretch it out. I do this in three locations per string: at around the 3rd fret, the 10th fret and around the 14th fret. Then, I retune and the Floyd should be fine after that.

Good luck!

I also find that stretching the strings makes a huge difference. Typically after fitting new strings i stretch thoroughly then leave the nut unlocked for a few days to let everything settle.

 

[Cajun]

I also find that stretching the strings makes a huge difference. Typically after fitting new strings i stretch thoroughly then leave the nut unlocked for a few days to let everything settle.

Thanks I will defenitely try this. I hope its not the 9's being problamatic as I my small hands realy like the 9's on this medium fret guitar. Never knew how much those jumbo frets hurt me even after installing 9's. I feel like my personal playability has improved with the neck of this guitar.

 

[Razzle]

Thanks for the advice. Not sure what strings are on it. I would assume they are eb's since that what Sterlings website says all their guitars come with.

So you're saying the guitar is going out of tune, and you haven't even put new strings on it?!?!?

 

[Cajun]

Yes, stretched the strings that are on it now and seems to stay in tune just fine until the whammy is used. Never had a floyd bridge so am not sure on how they are suppose to be properly set up.

 

[steevo]

Ive owned different guitars with various locking trems so i have alot of experience with them. Ive put strings on before without stretching them in, locked everything down and theyve stayed in tune perfectly. The problem you are having sounds like slippage at the nut. Check they are tight and that the underside isnt worn. Its possible the bolts have been overtightened and has partly stripped the thread. My strat with a floyd has seen alot of use from new 16 years back and the only parts ive replaced are the locking nuts. Change the strings first though and report back.

 

[Cajun]

Alright guys. I believe the problem is solved. Set up new strings which held for a week of playing. Used the trem and of course it went out of whack. Noticed the trem wasn't parallel to the body. It was slightly angled toward the body. Adjusted the spring tension until the bridge was parallel. All seems to be staying tune now.